Hoping for warmer weather!
My long run last weekend went really well! It ended up to be 19.25 miles. Between my Yaktracks (BEST thing ever invented for winter running — those with trail shoes = great traction!) and my head-to-toe clothing coverings, I survived both the 0 degree temps and the trecherous icy roads.
My legs held up really well, which surprised me. I haven’t been good about getting long runs in this winter, so I expected to struggle through the last 2-3 miles. Not the case! I finished strong & definitely could have gone longer. Maybe there isn’t as much pounding when you’re running on ice — usually that tears up your legs on a long run. Either that, or my body could tell I was taking it slower (8:15 pace). Guess it could be that I haven’t lost as much “long run strength” as I thought I had… which I guess could be the case… I’m just a little skeptical.
Training this week hasn’t been as great as I had hoped. After a 65 mile week last week (plus a few hours skiing), I came down with a cold this week that I haven’t been able to kick. Grr. Hate those. I tried to run yesterday on the treadmill for the first time and stopped after 2.5 miles. Felt dizzy and a little sick to my stomach. Nate put Ellie on as I was trying to recover, she ran for just over 2.5 miles. She’s making me look bad!!
I’m hoping today to get out on the Red Wing trails. First time this winter that I’ll get out on the ski trail by myself! I usually only go when Nate’s going — getting out there by myself is true dedication! I just feel pretty behind, I haven’t skied in a long time. We might do the Green Acres 5k this weekend & are driving to Duluth to do Boulder next weekend. Crazy that Boulder is next week already.
On another topic = one of my best running partners at GAC (also happened to win the National XC Championship as a junior) recently had surgery to repair a tendon in her knee. We’ve been in touch often, excited about the possibility of training and/or racing together again. I would absolutely LOVE that — we work off of each other so well (crazy how that works out with certain people). She wrote me yesterday to say that it isn’t healing as well as they had hoped; she still has the same pain in that area. What crushing news. She was excited to get back into the racing thing again, and she would have a legitimate shot at crushing that Olympic Trials qualifying time. I’m still hoping that it’ll turn around, but from the sound of her last note, she’s counted herself out. Funny how dreams can be crushed so easily…
Alright, I’m just rambling — I’ll sign off, hoping that this weekend brings warmer temps!!
